Metric system definition and scope
- Section 2 defines “metric system” as the International System of Units (SI) as established by the General Conference of Weights and Measures.
- The SI is interpreted or modified by the Metric System Board established under Presidential Decree Numbered One hundred eighty-seven, as amended by Presidential Decree Numbered Seven hundred forty-eight.
- The Board interprets or modifies the SI to suit Philippine conditions.
- The Act’s measurement coverage applies to the Philippines across product, commodity, utility, service, and commercial transaction contexts, including official and legal instruments.
Core unit and measurement terms
- Section 3 defines “unit” as a value, quantity, or magnitude in terms of which other values, quantities, or magnitudes are expressed.
- Section 3 defines “base unit” as a well-defined unit regarded as dimensionally independent.
- Section 3 defines “derived unit” as a unit formed by combining base units and/or supplementary units according to algebraic relations.
- Section 3 defines “supplementary unit” as a unit that is neither a base unit nor a derived unit.
- Section 3 defines “standard” as a physical embodiment of a unit.
- Section 3 defines “national standard” as the primary standard of the country.
- Section 3 defines “measurement” as quantitative expression of the state of phenomenon or matter, including examples such as length, mass, time, electric current, temperature, light intensity, surface area, volume, velocity, acceleration, force, pressure, work, power, heat, angle, and others.
Base units fixed by definition
- Section 4 sets the base unit of length as the metre, defined as the length equal to 1 650 763.73 wavelengths in vacuum of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the levels 2p10 and 5d5 of the krypton-86 atom.
- Section 4 sets the base unit of mass as the kilogram, equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram made of platinum-iridium, with the standard kept at the Bureau of International Weights and Measures at Sevres, France.
- Section 4 sets the base unit of time as the second, defined as the duration of 9 192 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of cesium-133.
- Section 4 sets the base unit of electric current as the ampere, defined by the constant current that produces a force equal to 2 x 10-7 newton per metre of length between two parallel conductors under specified conditions.
- Section 4 sets the base unit of thermodynamic temperature as the kelvin, defined as the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.
- Section 4 sets the base unit of luminous intensity as the candela, defined as the luminous intensity in the perpendicular direction of a surface of 1/600 000 square metre of a blackbody at the temperature of freezing platinum under a pressure of 101 325 newtons per square metre.
- Section 4 sets the base unit of amount of substance as the mole, defined by the amount of substance containing as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon 12.
- When the mole is used, the elementary entities must be specified, and they may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, other particles, or specified groups of such particles.
Supplementary units of plane/solid angle
- Section 5 sets the supplementary unit of a plane angle as the radian, defined by an arc length equal to the radius.
- Section 5 sets the supplementary unit of solid angle as the steradian, defined by the solid angle that cuts off a spherical surface area equal to that of a square with sides of length equal to the sphere’s radius.
- These supplementary units apply within the SI framework for angle measurements.
Implementation and conversion programs
- Section 7 assigns the Board responsibility to take charge of the implementation of the Act.
- Section 7 requires the Board to promulgate and enforce rules and regulations necessary for effective use of the metric system.
- The rules and regulations must include rules of usage, metric conversion tables and factors, metrication programs, and weights and measures.
- Section 7 requires nationwide public awareness and adjustments to exclusive metric use through National Metrication Month observed in November of each year until Nineteen hundred and eighty-three.
- Section 7 directs the Board to manage activities for awareness, including preparation, production, and nationwide dissemination of informative materials about the metric system and conversion.
- Section 7 provides that the Board continues in existence and exercises its powers and functions under Presidential Decree Numbered One hundred eighty-seven, as amended by Presidential Decree Numbered Seven hundred forty-eight, until the end of Nineteen hundred and eighty-four.
- Section 7 states that positions in the Board’s technical staff and secretariat are considered highly technical or confidential, and the Board must provide appropriate incentives for recruitment, maintenance, and high-level performance, subject to Presidential Decree No. 985.
Criminal penalties and liability
- Section 8 makes any violation of the Act or rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to it punishable upon conviction.
- The penalty is a fine of not more than One Thousand Pesos or imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or both, at the discretion of the Court.
- Section 8 makes responsible corporate actors liable when the violation is committed by a juridical person: the manager, representative, director, agent and/or employee responsible for the act.
- Section 8 provides that when the offender is an alien, the alien must be deported after serving the sentence, without need for further proceedings for deportation.
Funding for the Board
- Section 9 directs that the amount appropriated for the Metric System Board for the first semester of 1979, included in the General Appropriations Act for calendar year 1979, must be used for implementing the Act.
- Section 9 allows savings in programmed appropriations not exceeding Five Hundred Thousand Pesos of the Ministry of Trade and the National Science Development Board to support the Board.
- Section 9 requires support of such savings to be subject to Presidential Decree No. 1177 and to the approval of the President.
Repeal, effectivity, and date
- Section 10 repeals or modifies any inconsistent provisions in any law, decree, order, rule, or regulation.
- Section 11 provides that the Act takes effect upon its approval.
- The Act is Approved, December 2, 1978.